Remember the 'NASCAR Democrats?' Neither do they

Remember after the 2000 election? Democrats were baffled that the voters hadn’t given Al Gore a third Clinton term in the midst of a good economy. Never mind that President Bill Clinton never won a majority of the vote and had been impeached for covering up his defiling of a young intern in the Oval Office.

To the credit of those old Democrats, at least they were slightly capable of self-awareness. This crowd today would march right down the throat of a flaming volcano if somebody told them that doing so would hurt President Trump.

After months of litigating hanging chads in Florida, those old Democrats of yore wondered how they got it so wrong with Mr. Gore, one of the most able and revered technocrats Washington had ever produced. I mean, for goodness’ sake, the man invented the internet!

Remember when Mr. Clinton got so tired of Mr. Gore that he dispatched his veep to rewrite the entire federal code? Nothing much ever came of it but it kept Mr. Gore plenty busy for a long time. And gave Mr. Clinton plenty of time to play with others.

Perhaps that should have been where Democrats began their search for answers for why they lost the 2000 election. Instead, they went searching for “NASCAR Democrats.”

These were the fabled voters out there who supposedly watched NASCAR racing while also supporting Democrats in elections. Or, at least, were open to voting for Democrats in elections.

Most famously, Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia Democrat, sponsored a NASCAR racetruck during his 2001 campaign for governor. When Mr. Warner squeaked to victory as governor of Virginia — despite himself being a Connecticut Yankee — Democrats everywhere went gaga over “NASCAR Democrats.”

By 2004, presidential hopeful John Kerry was so goofy to connect with this treasured NASCAR demographic that he actually took an actual gun that was loaded with actual live ammo in Ohio and actually went goose hunting.

It did not work, of course. But seriously, Democrats, thank you for trying. For trying to understand normal God-fearing, freedom-loving Americans. Because there are none of those Democrats left any more. Democratic politicians today no longer even pretend to like America or American voters.

This is a major reason why Hillary Clinton lost in 2016. And now they seem hellbent to repeat the same mistake this time.

They have embraced free health care for illegals, socialism, live-birth abortion and open borders. Oh, and lynch Donald Trump! Even the great NASCAR Democrat himself, Mark Warner, has fallen in with the Pitchfork Democrats out for the president.

Now their only hope for a sane candidate is that New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg spends enough of his $60 billion fortune to buy the Democrat nomination away from socialist Bernie Sanders.

The phantom “NASCAR Democrats,” meanwhile, spent Sunday watching the season kick off with the Daytona 500. And it was probably tough not to join the deafening cheers as Air Force One — ferrying Mr. Trump and first lady Melania to the race — tipped a wing to the rowdy racetrack as it touched down in Florida.

And watching the president’s limo — nicknamed “The Beast” — lap the track as the racing cars roared and rumbled behind it had to be a sight to behold.

Not in attendance in Daytona were Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders or Mike Bloomberg. If there were any of the elusive “NASCAR Democrats” there, they were not speaking up.

• Charles Hurt can be reached at churt@washingtontimes.com or @charleshurt on Twitter.